A Brave New World
by Philosopher of Middle Earth
Summary: After the Ninja form the Tornado of Creation and defeat the Oni, things happen a little differently. Lloyd isn't the only one to talk to the First Spinjitzu Master.


**I don't usually write things that go against canon, but I have a hard time reconciling myself to the end of season 10. I can't be the only one disappointed with that last episode of March of the Oni. It was too rushed and left too many questions. Honestly, I didn't understand it. I also felt that once again, Garmadon got the short end of the stick. So this is my attempt to resolve things. **

**A Brave New World **

The four ninja swirled into their spinjitzu, joined shortly by Nya, Lloyd, Sensei Wu, and finally Garmadon. The tornado grew taller, bigger, and more powerful, countering the destructive attack of the Oni.

Inside the giant tornado, no one could see what was going on. They felt the power coursing through them –separate, yet all one– in their combined spinjitzu. It was their last resort, one last attempt at defeating the oncoming darkness.

The combined powers expanded uncontrollably, tossing the occupants everywhere, leaving them scattered in the monastery's courtyard. Jay was the first to wake up.

"We're alive!" he shouted. Nya got up and the two –yin and yang– hugged tightly. Slowly, but mostly unharmed, the rest got up. Cole, Kai, Zane, and Wu joined the others. The Oni were nowhere to be seen.

"Wait!" Zane paused the celebration, looking around. "Where's Lloyd?"

They searched the courtyard, eventually sporting Lloyd underneath a beam of wood and other rubble. "Oh no," Zane breathed. Everyone rushed over to the boy's still form. They pulled the wood off Lloyd and checked for signs of life. "Lloyd!"

"Lloyd, buddy," Kai said. "Wake up!"

"He-he's not moving!" Nya cried.

Cole looked around. "Someone find Wu! Where's Wu?"

Before anyone could move, Wu was already at Lloyd's side, lifting his arm and checking for a pulse.

"You can do something, right?" Jay asked. "Right?"

Wu looked up solemnly, sadness engraved on his face. "There is nothing to be done."

Gasps of shock rang through the courtyard. Nya let out a sob. "Oh Lloyd."

* * *

"Where am I?" Lloyd asked. Everything was green. It was so bright and cheerful. Unlike Ninjago had just been. Looking around, he saw a dragon. Comforted by the beast's presence, Lloyd brushed the dragon's snout.

"Do you like my dragon?" asked a voice.

Lloyd turned. An old man stood there where there hadn't been anyone before. Strangely...

"The First Spinjitzu Master!" Lloyd dropped into a kneeling position.

"No no," the old man said. "If anyone should be bowing, it should be me. You have done great things for Ninjago. Thank you." And the First Spinjitzu Master bowed lower than Lloyd, removing his hat in respect.

Lloyd blushed. His grandfather spoke words of high praise, words he hardly felt worthy of given all the chaos that followed the title of Green Ninja. "I-I don't know what to say," Lloyd stammered. "I've done my best...but even now...after everything... Why am I here? Have I failed?"

His grandfather chuckled. "Quite the opposite. You have succeeded. Indeed, even succeeded in more areas than I ever did. As such, I give you a choice. You have done wonderfully in my realm. You may come with me now, or return to Ninjago."

Lloyd blinked. The old man was now on the back of his dragon, holding out his hand for his grandson to take. "Where would we go?" he inquired.

"That is a secret."

Lloyd reached out. The hand looked inviting. Peace was in his grasp. "Wait." He stopped. "I want to ask you something."

"Yes, my child?"

"My father..." Lloyd's voice cracked. "I want him back. "Can't you do something?"

"Perhaps," the First Spinjitzu Master mused.

"Umph!" Garmadon sat up. "Where am I?" He saw his son, a dragon, and then his father, who was now standing beside his dragon.

"Father," he grunted. "It's been a while."

"Indeed, Garmadon," the First Spinjitzu Master said. "Welcome. You are looking different."

Garmadon snorted. "Like you care. Like you ever cared. You –the maker of worlds, the creator of all Ninjago– couldn't help his own son. His son, who suffered for years under the influence of the venom of the Great Devourer, day in and day out, his son who made mistake after mistake. But you. You. You couldn't fix your own son. It wasn't until my son –_my own son_– came along that I was finally rid of that curse. And now you show up!"

Garmadon ranted furiously, breaking down the barrier that had held back the angry tirade for years. "Now you show up. At what could very well be the end of your realm, and try to take away the hero. We don't need you. Ninjago doesn't need you! They need him!" He pointed to Lloyd with two arms. "And he needs them."

Lloyd, when he had first woken up in the strange green world felt that nothing could be wrong or sad here. Maybe the presence of his Oni-like father ruined the tranquillity. Whatever the case, he now had tears streaming dow his face, touched by his father's words.

The First Spinjitzu Master regarded his son with the same expression throughout Garmadon's rant: an indecipherable placid face. Once Garmadon finished, the old man spoke. "Whom are you angry at, son? What do you hope to gain?"

"I don't know!"

Lloyd couldn't take any more. He ran to his father, burying his face in his father's chest, wrapping his arms around him. "I want you back, father!" he cried. "Come back!"

"Lloyd," Garmadon said, tears rolling down his face. "Lloyd." His grip tightened on the boy.

"It seems the choice is made," the First Spinjitzu Master said. "I shall see you two later." Then he was on the back of his dragon, and everything faded to black.

* * *

"Please wake up."

"I don't believe it."

"Lloyd!"

Voices floated above Lloyd's head. He coughed. His eyelids fluttered. "Where am I?" He asked again.

"Lloyd!" They all cried excitedly. "You're alive! Thank goodness!" They helped him sit up, then up on his feet.

Lloyd looked around confused. "But, the First Spinjitzu Master...my father?" He started, looking around anxiously. "Where's my father?"

Everyone frowned. No one had seen Garmadon after waking up. Although, to be fair, they hadn't been looking.

"Right here, son."

There, in the doorway to the monastery, stood Garmadon. Not Emperor, not lord, not Oni, but good Sensei Garmadon.

Cries of astonishment and disbelief passed through the group. But Lloyd ignored everything and everyone, seeing only his father.

"You're back!" He cried. "It's you!"

Garmadon hugged Lloyd tightly, as if he'd never let go again. "Yes Lloyd." He brushed his hands over his son's head. "It's me." Sparing a glance up at the sky, he whispered, "Thank you."

Lloyd snuggled closer to his father. He closed his eyes. The warmth he felt in the green land of the First Spinjitzu Master was fading into memory, but he too, uttered a simple "thank you," into the air, grateful for peace. Grateful for his father. Grateful to be alive.


End file.
